Fairy Tales in Society's Service

Abstract

Jack Zipes has repeatedly demonstrated that fairy tales have an enormous subversive potential. The nature of subversion, however, may vary radically depending on the society in which fairy tales appear. This essay shows how fairy tales based on the wish-granting motif functioned in the former Soviet Union, a society in which art and literature were strongly subordinated to the official ideology. Through an examination of four stories, it is demonstrated how the Communist ideology permeating the texts came into conflict with their liberating effect and how different narrative strategies were used to subdue the subversive elements.

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